I See You
by Pygmypigwidgeon
Summary: Its fifth year. Hermione is the transfer student with an attitude. Draco is the player with nothing to lose but his pride. A cruel bet is made and two worlds collide. But underneath the deception, could there actually be something there, something real?


_Its fifth year. Hermione is the new transfer student with an attitude. Draco is the player with nothing to lose but his pride. A cruel bet is made and their two worlds collide. But underneath the deception, could there actually be something there, something real? _

The Great Hall was alit with bright candles floating mid-air, the luminous line of enchanted bulbs a true sight to behold. House banners proudly adorned its walls, telling the tales of each house. Glittering plates and golden goblets sat invitingly on the long tables, beckoning the students to taste their savory wares. The festive mood was undeniable.

As he stepped into the threshold, Draco Malfoy smirked, _Finally Back. Let the feast begin._

It was the first of September, a day that many young witches and wizards marked excitedly in their calendars. It was a day many, Draco particularly, looked forward to. It was the first day of the school year and most importantly, the first day of his 5th year at Hogwarts. Draco knew that the fifth year was no ordinary year, it was the year he took his OWLs and he knew he absolutely had to do well, god forbid he disappoint his father.

Making a beeline for the Slytherin table decked throroughly in green and white, Draco quickly chose a seat next to one of his best friends, Blaise Zabini. There were quite a few familiar faces already there, engaged in separate, animated conversations, no doubt waiting for the feast the start. Immediately, as if a spell was cast in that split-second, all conversations at the table ceased and all attention was instantly directed at Draco.

'Oh hey mate, how was your holiday?'

'Hi Drakey, I missed you during break…'

'Draco! Look what I got in Egypt!'

Draco was used to the attention, everyone considered him the pride of Slytherin. Guys constantly tried to impress him while girls threw themselves at him. It was no surprise, in front of others, he could be funny, cool, charismatic and could charm his way out of any situation. It was a gift, really, and he made sure to use it well.

He indulged the crowd for a while, listening to their holiday anecdotes and laughing at appropriate moments, regaling them with his own exaggerated stories and all in all, masterfully playing his part as the loved-by-all Slytherin prince. The crowd hung on to his every word, whether was it about how he fought of dragons in Romania or charmed genies in India. However, after a while, he got increasing bored by the charade and waved the crowd off to attend to their own conversations. Instead, he turned to Blaise, who was watching him intently with a smirk on his face.

'So, Drake, I'm sure it was fun when you battled that dragon in Romania. Care to elaborate?'

Draco cocked an eyebrow at him and playfully punched him in the arm. Blaise was the only person who could see through his lies. Having both been trained in the ways of a high society wizard, Draco and Blaise were one and the same. That was one of the reasons why they were best friends actually. No lies, no deception. Draco's only truly honest friendship.

'I hear you went to Paris, any new French girlfriends I should know of?'

Draco grinned. It was no secret that he was a player. Blaise often joked that he had more past girlfriends than galleons in his bank account. And for someone from one of the richest pureblood families, that said a lot.

'_Oui, Oui, il y a Camille, Florence, Cassandra, etc._ Care to hear more?'

Blaise made a puking motion and shook his head. What happened in France would stay in France. Draco's conquests were his own business.

Just as Draco was about to continue, a loud authoritative voice rang throughout the hall.

'Welcome back one and all, to Hogwarts! Let the sorting begin!' Dumbledore declared ceremoniously as he gestured for a line of anxious first years to enter the hall. Draco's eyes were immediately drawn to a battered old hat sitting on a stool at the front of the hall. As if in slow motion, the rip near its brim opened wide and it began singing, drawing the whole school into a trance.

After the Sorting Hat's song, a first year hesitantly walked towards the hat. Carefully, he slipped the dusty hat onto his head. Instantly, the hat declared, 'GRYFFINDOR!' The boy let out an evident sigh of relief and rushed over to the Gryffindor table, where the Gryfindors cheered enthusiastically for their newest arrival.

_Effing Morons. _Draco thought in distaste as he watched the Gryffindorks fondle over the boy, giving him pats on the head and stuffing food into his mouth. The boy seemed extremely pleased with his sorting and was practically gushing with happiness. _What kind of idiot would be happy to be a Gryffindor? _ Draco turned away, slightly repulsed.

The next few Sortings were dreadfully uneventful. There were a couple of Slytherins, but none of them looked impressive enough to be on the path to greatness.

Soon, all the first years were sorted and Dumbledore, once again, stood up to, no doubt, deliver his customary speech.

'Before we begin our feast, I would like to announce, with great pleasure I might add, that we have a few more additions to our school this year. As part of a special exchange programme between our two schools, please welcome the students of Beauxbatons academy, here on a permanent transfer!' Dumbledore gestured again to a line of girls walking into the great hall.

Draco stared. They were definitely not first-years.

The procession of Beauxbatons girls was a sight to behold. There were only five girls. Still, each looked fifteen or sixteen, at least, and almost all of them were tall and pretty. As they walked down the aisle, occasionally fidgeting with their Hogwarts uniform, obviously not used to it, some of them made sure to flash bright, stunning smiled at the crowd, as if they were strutting down the catwalk. The boys cheered and catcalled, hardly able to contain their excitement. Draco included, was quickly sizing the girls up.

However, there was one girl that Draco was unusually drawn to. She had tamed brown curls and slightly larger front teeth, evidently not the tallest or prettiest in the group. But Draco could not deny that there was something indeed very special about her. She was determinedly looking forward, as if not even noticing the crowd, and her uniform was perfectly arranged, never once having to be fidgeted with. Draco realised, it was that she exuded confidence, and that made her strangely very attractive indeed.

As she put on the sorting hat, Draco could have sworn he caught her eye. Just for a portion of a second, just as she was putting it on, he could have sworn she looked at him and smiled. But it was not a smile, it was a mischievous, cocky smirk. And Draco oddly felt his heart fluttering in his chest.

'GRYFFINDOR!'

And then it dropped to the pit of his stomach.

~ _Did my heart love til now? Forswear it sight, _

_For I ne'er saw true beauty til this night.~_

'GRYFFINDOR!' The hat bellowed.

Hermione quickly registered this. _Gryffindor; Red and Gold Colours; For the brave at heart. _Her eyes drifted over the room and came to a stop at the table adorned in Red and Gold banners. She pushed the hat off her hat, sat it back on the stool and strode over to the Gryffindor table. Read _Hogwarts: A history_ beforehand had definitely served her well.

As she settled in an empty seat next to a freckly red head, she suddenly became aware of a number of eyes on her. She felt the urge to shift in her seat, twiddle her thumbs, fix her hair, do something, but she suppressed the urge and focussed on the sorting. In Beauxbatons, showing nervousness meant showing weakness, and so she kept her hands in her lap and her eyes on the hat.

'SLYTHERIN!'

Hermione watched as her schoolmate, Astoria Greengrass, strutted confidently towards the Slytherin table. For a moment, she stopped before it, surveying the faces at the table. _Typical Astoria_, Hermione thought, _power-hungry and unafraid to show it_. Finally, Astoria chose a seat opposite a student with platinum blond hair who looked like someone right out of a high society magazine. Hermione was shocked to realise she recognised the face, she had caught him staring at her a few moments ago and she had returned his intense stare less than appropriately. She chose that moment to look away, very much aware of the heat rising in her cheeks.

The rest of the sorting continued on uneventfully, two of the other three girls were sorted into Hufflepuff while the last was sorted into Ravenclaw. Dumbledore stood up again and silenced the buzzing crowd.

'I hope everyone will extend a warm welcome to these new additions. I know that you are all hungry, as am I. And so, let the feast begin!' Dumbledore took his seat again and with a wave of his hand, large spreads of food appeared on the tables. As the students around her tucked into the food, Hermione quickly selected a bowl of fresh salad as well as some warm soup. To her left, the red head was furiously eating a large turkey singlehandedly.

Hermione glanced over the Slytherin table at the far side of the room. Astoria was attempting to make conversation with the student from before, whereas he was watching her with an openly bored expression. Hermione could not help but notice that he was rather good-looking. His pale skin and platinum hair, as well as his well-defined features make him a very fine looking specimen, indeed.

Hermione's eyes must have been burning holes into his forehead, because all of a sudden, he glanced up to meet her gaze, as if aware of her stare. He looked genuinely surprised and curious as he returned her gaze with equal intensity. Blushing, Hermione looked away and directed her attention back to her dinner. After a while, she felt his stare fall away as he turned his attention to something else.

She was snapped out of her trance by a tap on her left shoulder.

'Hey,' the red head mumbled, mouth still stuffed with food, 'Could you pass me the pudding?'

"Yea, sure,' Hermione mumbled, reaching over to take the bowl of pudding and passing it to him. He nodded a quick thanks and dug in.

'So, what year are you in?' A boy sitting across the table with black, messy hair asked. 'Oh, I'm Harry, and he's Ron by the way.' Harry used his fork to gesture to the red head sitting beside Hermione.

'I'm Hermione, nice to meet you. Fifth year.' Hermione replied, grateful to be part of some conversation.

'Oh, us too.' Harry took another mouthful of his treacle pudding. 'So, made any friends yet?'

'Just a couple.' As she said this, Hermione found herself stealing another glance at the Slytherin student. To her surprise, he was staring back.

_~Transparent herectics, be burnt for liars. _

_One fairer than my love? The all-seeing sun_

_Ne'er saw her match since first the world begun.~_

**Hello dear reader! So, how was it? This is just a random idea I came up with, inspired by a drama I watched called 'Autumn's Concerto'. Anyway, let me know what you think, I'm still pretty new to writing fanfics, so I don't really know if I'm doing anything wrong or something, but anyway, be nice and give me your honest feedback! :) Oh yeah, recognised the quotes? They're from Romeo and Juliet, the ultimate Dramiones. **

**Erm, this is the second edition of the first chapter, because I looked over the first edition and I was not ****very satisfied, so I beefed it up a little, hope its better now! **

**Thanks for reading! **

**Oh and to the readers of my other Dramione, The Insider, thank you so much for your support! :) But regretfully, I'm discontinuing it, sorry! **


End file.
